Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Havaianas and My Hawaiiano Cousins

Years ago, my cousins in Batac, Ilocos Norte (now mostly in the Big Island of Hawaii) had this thing about Beachwalk. This is a tsinelas or flipflops which has a cream sole and supposed to feel like walking on a beach. Of course, in Ilocos they call tsinelas as smuggle or ismagel.. The "e" is hard unlike in Visayas, I heard, where they pronounce it as ismagol. But Beachwalk is Beachwalk and that's what they call it. It was more expensive than what we cousins in Baguio wore, which is Spartan. Like the namesake, ours is hard and malodorous. So our cousins walked the streets of Batac wearing Beachwalk and they felt like kings because that's what most of the Annak ti Batac (elites) wore. And when they came to Baguio, they also walked along Session Road wearing Beachwalk but then they realize they are not exactly Annak ti Batacs here because Baguio, being little America, love wearing shoes. So here comes Havaianas, which now have a retail store near Cathedral. It is very expensive and a big hit in Manila. But I don't know (and considering the student population here), it's deja vu all over again for me and my memories of my cousins now in Hawaii.

6 Comments:

The story goes that 'ismagel' came from the fact that the first flipflops that reached Ilocos were smuggled. Your story about Beachwalk and Baguio folks reminds me of my daughter who came to visit me in HK one time without any footwear except for 6 pairs of Havaianas. She immediately went shopping for shoes when she realized that no one else was wearing flipflops.

By the way it was nice bumping into you at Cafe by the Ruins. I've always wondered if I'll ever meet you in person.

Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. last Thursday vowed to pursue a more aggressive population control program in the city to stem the city’s increasing population and avoid its negative repercussions.The mayor said this during the Northern and Central Luzon Rural Congress held recently in the city, it was bared that the city’s population rose by five percent as of last count.

The mayor said the information was alarming considering the city’s relatively small area and considering the adverse consequences that overpopulation triggers like poverty, malnutrition, and health problems.

True enough, the rate of malnutrition in the city also increased by three percent also from the same information, according to the mayor.

The Population Commission said that based on the National Statistics Office data, the city’s population as of Aug. 1, 2007 is 301,926. The PopCom said the city’s annual population growth rate is 2.5 percent.

The mayor said the situation calls for a more vigorous implementation of birth control and family planning programs as soon as possible.

The mayor said he has authorized the fund appropriation of more than P1 million for the purchase of birth control contraceptives for distribution in the various barangays.

He said he has also directed the city population office to implement population control measures and programs in the barangays incessantly